Manufactured items, such as components for gas turbine engines, often require surface finishing to achieve certain mechanical properties. Components formed using additive manufacturing, brazing, or welding, as examples, may require surface cleaning (to remove burrs or partially fused particles) before the components can be used in an engine. Components formed using other techniques may also benefit from surface finishing.
One known surface finishing technique is known as micromachining. A micromachining process involves the use of an abrasive fluid, which includes a carrier fluid carrying an abrasive media. In this known process, a vessel contains a component to be finished, and the vessel is filled with a first abrasive fluid. The first abrasive fluid is used to finish the component. Following a first surface finishing process, the vessel is drained and a second abrasive fluid fills the vessel. The second abrasive fluid is then used to further finish the component. The process may repeat itself using additional abrasive fluids. Between each step, the vessel is completely drained and refilled with a new abrasive fluid.
Another existing surface finishing technique is known as tumbling. In a tumbling process, a component is held in an open-air container, and a plurality of abrasive particles are run over the component. Other known surface finishing techniques use magnetic fields, such as magnetic abrasive finishing, magnetic flow polishing, or magnetorheological finishing techniques. These magnetic techniques typically use open-air containers.